


As Fate Would Have It

by SUNNYWISH



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: 2jin - Freeform, Angst, Fluff, Georgian Period, Historical, Major character death - Freeform, Modern Era, Multi, Regency, Reincarnation, Tragic Romance, chuuves - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-11-03 19:25:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17883770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SUNNYWISH/pseuds/SUNNYWISH
Summary: "Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don't go along with that. The memories I value most, I don't ever see fading."-Kazou Ishiguro, Never Let me Go.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first chapter.. god. And my first work on A03.. this is also avalible to read on wattpad if you prefer, under the same name and username. I mean... if anyone reads this at all.

"Its so bloody cold, the river better freeze over again to make up for it." Heejin whined, dusting the early december snow from her boots as she stepped into the warmth of her her house.

"Language." Jinsol ordered back from upstairs.

Heejin rolled her eyes to herself and grimaced as she heard footsteps creak down the stairs to her.

"Where's the princess?" She asked as soon as Jinsol entered the room.

"Out looking for suitors again, she thinks that we should move up north, apparently the men down here are getting boring and repetitive."

"You should never had let her read any Jane Austen, she's been in this trance for over a year now. How up north is she thinking?"

"Scotland." Jinsol replied flatly, a cheeky smile forming on her lips.

"Scotland??" Heejin snorted incredulously. "Oh I see, she just wants to peer under their kilts doesn't she."

"That's what I said. But then she smacked me with her tea towel and told me to get my mind out of the gutter. She was so flustered, does she think me an idiot?"

"She thinks of us both as idiots, anyway I bought a goose at the market, you know for our guests when they arrive tomorrow." Heejin informed her, setting her bag on the table, unpacking its contents.

Ughhhh, If I have to make small talk with another self entitled, stuck up twat who keeps trying to peer down my corset again, I'll envy the goose that was shot in cold blood just so we could show off." Jinsoul grumbled. "When will father send us real men as suitors?" . Heejin took a mental note to later ask Jinsol what on earth a real man constituted as, it's not lie any of them would know. They'd been living pretty much with females their entire life, which is why Sooyoung's assumptions all appeared to come from works of idyllic fiction. But all 3 were probably certain that the men their father advertised at them were... not exactly desirable.

"He does his best." Heejin sighed, "Plus, that was part of the deal, we move here away from father in order to learn our responsibility and freedom, so long as on occasion we host dinner parties for the sons of his beloved war companions." She smiled sarcastically. "Seeming to hope that one day one of them will catch our fancy and we can be married off."

"It's a miracle to be honest, most of the men seem to be put off immediately that we live on our own, they only like the idea of us when we're defenseless creatures they can nurture and protect." She continued, churning her nose up at the idea of being some kind of pet.

"Maybe this time on will be tolerable." Jinsol said wistfully, before stopping herself from getting carried away. "Who am I kidding , father doesn't have a clue. Maybe Sooyoung had gotten the right idea, maybe we should be out scavenging together, taking it into our own hands."

"Pointless." Heejin said deadpan. "And what's with the scavenging, surely they will come to us in their own time."

"Come on, you barely even look at a guy before deciding he's wrong for you, I mean with the imbeciles father sends I can understand, believe me. But when we're out in public you never seem to be interested! Do you not like the idea of getting wed- if so that's completely normal you're only 19.."

"Its not that." Heejin replied blankly, setting herself down on the wooden stool. "I feel like whenever I talk to someone clearly interested, I'm hurting someone else. The person that I should be talking to."

If Heejin was honest, she wasn't sure how to explain any of this to Jinsol, as she wasn't really sure herself, but she knew that the words were true, there was just something missing that she was unable to put her finger on, and it was most frustrating.

"My dear Heejin, are you saying that you've met somebody?" Jinsoul asked, dropping her fan in shock had her eyes widened.

"NO!" Heejin laughed. "That's precisely it, I haven't. But I feel like I'm wasting my time with anybody else, and I guess that I have to remain faithful or something to this one person."

"Who?" Jinsol could not contain her curiosity, she had literally never seen her sister mention or hint at any kind of romantic affiliation; This was new. This was bloody revolutionary.

"Well I don't know, I've never met them have I!" Heejin replied, her volume raising slightly, causing Jinsol to flinch.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, raising an arm to brush against her sister's. "I didn't mean to shout." 

They were rudely interrupted by a large clang of the door as it swung shut.

"I HAVE DECIDED, THAT THE MEN OF STRATFORD ARE DOGS." Their oldest sister bellowed as she entered the house, taking off her hat, shaking it violently to remove the flakes of snow.

"Oh really? Bored already?" Heejin giggled as the aggravated ranting of Sooyoung bewloweed throughout the house. This was not exactly an uncommon occurrence. The girls exchanged a bemused look, clinking their glasses of water together and sitting back comfortably in their chairs, awaiting the inevitable continuation of their sister's anger fueled monologue.

"How is it, that this town. The birthplace of bloody Shakespeare himself, the ultimate bard, is full of men which men who simply lack proper eloquence and normality. Clearly his legacy has not been passed down well in the last two centuries. This is it ladies, we are relocating." Sooyoung rambled, huffing. She sat herself down on the leather armchair, putting her legs up on the table in front of her. It really was fortunate that there were no men in the house, it was seen as most unladylike. Luckily her sisters didn't give much of shit about the stupid georgian misogyny.

"You mean that you've run out of men to break the hearts of in this town." Jinsol corrected. Heejin chuckled, offering her palm, which Jinsol satisfyingly smacked.

"My two younger siblings, bullying me like this." She replied, faking an over exaggerated grin.

"Well if your heart is set so much on moving to Scotland, you'll have to be the one to bring it up tomorrow, with Father and his ...guests." Heejin said with a smirk.

"Please, I'm the first girl he adopted, he can't refuse me." Sooyoung replied.

Jinsoul and Heejin turned to one another, she was in correct, to an extent. Father rarely said no to anything that Sooyoung asked. They both knew it wasn't favouritism, he loved them all dearly and equally, but Sooyoung was especially persuasive.

"I guess we're moving to Scotland." Heejin sighed.

Jinsoul giggled and nudged her little sister slightly. "Maybe Scotland's where you'll find your person."

"Shh." Heejin muffled her sister, elbowing her in the ribs.

Sooyoung's eyes narrowed. "What kind of person?"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Galway, 1834

Hyunjin was not an especially adventurous person.

But here she was, guilt seeping through her veins as she grabbed as many of the coins that were enclosed in the drawer that her mother was unaware had a copy. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty, she wasn't going to take any more than her entitled fortune would be, that would go immediately to whatever husband was chosen for her the minute she was married.

And that was not going to happen, so she might as well take her share, she refused to live off Jungeun's money, especially after all she had done for her and VIvi, she should at least be able to provide for herself until they fund a better position.

She wasn't going to stay here and malt away until a suitable marriage was arranged and she was forced into a life of pointlessness and to provide...children to a man she was unlikely to how any affection for.

She opened the shutters on her window, tossing down a small bundle down beneath her, looking down to make sure Vivi caught it.

She was the last one, they had spent the morning collecting Vivi's stuff, and Jungeun already had enough in her brothers ship, she was well provided for.

Skirts, dresses, clothes, blankets were folded and bundled and tossed, as well as much money and supplies as could go missing and the household would survive.

She picked up her skirts and hurried quickly down the stairs, light on her feet as to not alert any the staff pottering around the manor. She quickly grabbed a pocket watch from the landings, and stopped just for one second to look around at her surroundings before she ran out of that door.. forever.

"I lived her maybe, but you were never my home, still I guess a little part of me might miss you." She whispered, stroking the painted frame of the doorway.

She was right, a great deal of her childhood and her happiest moments had been spent not in this house, but one just a little down the road.

Her parents had never been affectionate people, her father maybe, but he was always , always away and she rarely even got to see him. Her mother had obviously been born under similar circumstances, and it just wasn't in her nature to be motherly as nobody had ever been so to her.

Hyunjin had gone after wet nurse after wet nurse, nanny after nanny. Hyunjin wasn't exactly the problem, she was well behaved and intelligent, but she was lonely and never really connected to her studies.

So, her mother arranged for her to be sent to live with a kind, well off elderly woman along with her only friend at the time, a girl called Vivi, who was 10 at the time and complete her education there. Vivi had similar relationship with her parents, and there they met Jungeun, and the three were raised and educated all at the same rate, despite Vivi being a little older than the other two at the time, Jungeun was 7. They had spent the better part of 10 years together, and when the word family sprang to mind, she thought not of her blood relatives, but of those happy years the three of them spent with nanny, whose passing had shaken them all the previous year.

She took the step outside, where Vivi was waiting with an outstretched hand, which Hyunjin gladly took, and they both set off towards the docks to Jungeun's brothers ship.

"We're doing this together, right."

"Always." Vivi whispered back as they carefully took a step off the pier onto the vessel awaiting them.

"Let's just go over the plan one more time, please?" Vivi asked nervously as they sat down in the table below dock.

She was nervous yes, but determined. The news over heard that Hyunjin's father was planning on marrying her off to some distant cousin had set her and Jungeun's blood on fire. and when Jungeun pointed out how competitive their mothers were, if Hyunjin, the youngest was to be betrothed, it wouldn't be long before the other two found themselves in the same predicament, her face turned white with horror.

She had nothing on Jungeun, who was the most mischievous of the three, who was more hyped up than everything. While the other two were doing this out of necessity, Jungeun was actually thrilled an opportunity like this had presented itself. So when Hyunjin came towards the two of them crying, and her brother announced to her that he was finally being trusted from father with his very own shipment, and wasn't planning on coming back and that the 3 of them were very welcome to come along, she could barely shut up about it, despite being the mastermind she had actually been the least talented secret keeper.

"Right." Jungeun said, laying out a map of the British Isles in front of her, and a knife. Not that she needed to stab the map, but to her, it was absolutely necessary.

"My father thinks that this shipment is headed to Liverpool, and that it will, however obviously we cannot stay there long as that will be the obvious place to search for us. The morning after our arrival in Liverpool we have a train booked to take us up from York, which is where Jeongho and the three of us will part ways, but we will remain in contact."

"We're going to spend our whole lives running aren't we?" Vivi whispered, her voice suddenly frightened.

"Not from what you think." Jungeun said quickly under her breath, quiet enough that the other two didn't quite hear her.

"Sorry?" Vivi asked.

"Nevermind." Jungeun laughed, suddenly closing up the map and getting up hastily. "Go to bed, we need the rest, I'll be up in a second, I'll just clean up down here."

VIvi and Hyunjin exchanged a look of confusion but both decided not to push forward, she was right, they were in deep need of slumber and rest, so they exited the room, closing the door behind them.

"That was close." A voice came from behind Jungeun, who turned around to face the owner.

"Sorry, I would probably be better at keeping all these secrets if I knew what half of them were, your name would be helpful." She pointed out, crossing her arms.

"Not yet." The girl said, beaming back at her. "And if you spill to those two what is going on, what are you going to say? That a mysterious girl turned up and told you that you really needed to go to England and you miraculously took her word for it?"

"I still don't know why I did." Jungeun said, starring.

"Because you trust me." The girl replied, smiling widely again.

"I've never met you. You've just appeared in front of me out of thin air on a few occasions."

"You will meet me, just don't expect me to know you, and then you'll find out my name."

Jungeun narrowed her eyes. "Short skirted girl- why must you speak to me in such riddles?"

"What? I'm not a spirit if that's what you're thinking. And neither is my skirt that you seem so fascinated by. And it isn't THAT short." The girl huffed, picking up the hem of the fabric of her skirt for Jungeun to feel.

"See it's as real as the fabric of your own skirt." She said satisfactrally as Jungeun rubbed the hem for her own.

"You wear such a bold colour." Jungeun remarked.

"What can I say, they say Purple really brings out my eyes." She grinned back, already starting to disappear, and as she did, a glint of a fluorescent purple flashed in her otherwise brown iris.

"You should try wearing red." The girl's voice rang out around the room, but she had gone before Jungeun could ask any more questions.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atlanta, 1993.

"Yerimmmmm we're out of milk!" Vivi called out, closing the fridge with an annoyed amount of force.

"Oh yeah sorry, I used it up making the pancakes this morning, I'll go out and get some now." She heard reply from upstairs, and before she knew it Yerim was running down the stres asking if either of them had seen her jacket.

"On the banister in the living room where you left it." Sooyoung hollered from the table across Vivi, not looking up from the morning newspaper.

A lot of Sundays went down like this in their flat. The roller skating rink wasn't open on sundays so they spent their days lazing about and doing as little as possible, and what needed to be done, little things like errands were always done by the youngest, simply because she was the youngest and therefore had to do all the boring tasks.

Yerim really didn't mind, it was better than she could imagine to even live like this. Being in the system until she was 16, and then expected to fend entirely for herself was not something easy to fix, but she managed to find herself a job down at the local roller skating rink last year. It was owned by Vivi, who worked there along with her girlfriend, Sooyoung. Vivi had known Yerim at school a long time ago, and when she found out her position, demanded that she was to move in with the two of them in the spare bedroom in the flat above the rink. And for that, Yerim could not be more grateful.

It was April, and the heat was not too overpowering yet, so she was still in need of a jacket, and she skipped on towards the corner shop, trying to shake off the exhaustion of her most recent travel, telling herself not to do that again for at least another couple of days.

She clearly spoke to soon, because as she was about to reach out to the door handle of the shop, she felt her waist being tugged, and the heat around her was increasing rapidly. She cursed silently to herself. Travelling of her own accord took a great deal of energy out of her, and she was pretty much as energetic as it comes. But being summoned took a huge huge amount of energy from her, she would be extremely lucky if she didn't collapse wherever.. whenever it was that she was going.

She had a slight clue, she knew for certain that whatever it was, it was bloody freaking boiling.

The whizzing around her at a thousand miles per minute stopped suddenly, and she fell to the cold..oh so cold.. so good floor beneath her. At Least wherever she was, she was inside, this would be exceedingly embarrassing for anybody to see. And also, when she was being summoned she would at least know who by, there was only one person who could do that. And that was always a hit or miss depending on the time period.

She had probably been here before, she thought to herself, numerous times most likely. She was very good at keeping track of the when and where, but her body was currently more occupied on keeping her conscious and healthy than the intricacies of her situation., so she opted for the more direct approach.

Mustering the strength, she hoisted herself into at least a sitting position, against what she guessed was some kind of cabinet. Her eyes flickered open erratically, until she could finally settle them down and focus on the young woman, thankfully the one she had been expecting to see, sitting on the bench a few feet away from her.

"..When and where?" She managed to say, and it did take a great deal of her breath in her lungs to do so. She silently prayed that she had been here before and that the person in question was at least semi aware of their situation. She really didn't have the energy to explain anything like that at the moment.

“Cairo” Chaewon answered her, heading over towards Yerim, gripping her arm and hoisting her upwards. "1808" she added, which was probably the more helpful bit of that information.

"And why am I here?" Yerim asked, now at least standing.. sort of.

"Because, we have a problem." 

 

◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣

 

THERE IT IS.  
LE FIRST CHAPTER!!

You're probably a tad confused but I do not blame you, I really hope that you liked it and it will get less boring I promise.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Heres the second chapter! A huge thank you to the people leaving kudos, it means a lot. And I also really appreciate reviews so thank you!!

Cairo, Egypt. 1808

Warm air is often described as a pleasant feeling, but when one thinks about it, it's not always nice to go outside and be greeted by the sticky sensation of humidity. 

Cold air is often harsh, especially upon ones unprotected ears.

What Sooyoung was currently experiencing, was nothing of the sort. It was like there was no air at all, only heat, and she felt that if one bit of her light layers of fabric shifted slightly and left even a section of her skin bare, then it would be scorched off by the boiling heat. 

Cairo was a particularly warm place at this time of year, and it was best to stay in doors, hiding in the comfort of the cool shade. 

But Sooyoung was not one for comfort, and she set out onto the streets, knowing full well that it was dangerous, especially for a young women such as herself. Then again, it was normally the custom that under all her layers of clothing there would be jewels and wealth hidden for that of a normal young lady, and instead Sooyoung took comfort in the blades hidden inside of her sleeves in case of unwanted attacks. 

She quickly spun her head around to ensure she wasn't being watched, and hastily ducked into the building on her right. 

Brushing past the reeds, she carefully stepped into the front room, wrapping off the protective scarf from her face to reveal her identity. 

"You said you would be gone a maximum of two weeks!" A voice came from the side of her, and guilt crept onto Sooyoung's face. 

"I know." She admitted, seating herself down on the wooden bench as she undid her sandals. "I got sidetracked. I'm only a few days late." 

Chaewon clearly didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer, and her face tuned from accusation to this terribly morbid 

"Chaewon." Yves said calmly, shifting her position slightly so that she was facing her more directly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Nowhere is safe, where do you suggest we go? This is the longest we've gone without a run in, not with her, and no messages either! Lets see, what its been... 4 months 23 days?" 

"4 months 17 days." Chaewon corrected, her eyes narrowing. 

"Choerry came to see you?" Sooyoung exclaimed. 

"..No. I was certain I had this feeling that we were being watched, and I thought she'd found us so I summoned her.."

"And then she disappeared right before she could finish?" Sooyoung interjected.

"Actually not this time."A voice came from across the room. 

Sooyoung's eyes darted over to the dresser, finding herself utterly horrified to discover the messenger girl sitting so.. casually on her dresser. And it didn't look like she had moved since she got in at all. Maybe Chaewon was right, she was losing her touch when it came to the state of being alert, she should really have noticed the presence of another the minute she walked in. 

"You've been here five days!" Sooyoung asked, her mouth gaping open, she didn't like being shocked, her hand moved to her blade. She didn't intend to hurt the girl, she just needed the comfort. 

"I'm as surprised as you are, I wasn't even delivering a message this time, I was going out to get milk because you wanted pancakes and suddenly-" Yerim clamped her mouth, she knew she had said to much. That was one of the rules she had to be very strict about: do not mention anything to anyone about their past or future lives. 

Sooyoung's eyebrows raised, and her grip around her knife tightened. This girl would keep telling the two of them messengers, riddles and somethings that sounded awfully close to prophecies, and it was beginning to wind her around the bend several times over. If there was anything that Sooyoung despised, it was being ignorant, and her patience was fraying to tin she feared it may snap. 

All these questions that had been sucking at her brain from last year, the minute this girl, whose name she guessed was definitely not really Cheorry had quite literally materialized into their lives, and the two of them had begun to be hunted, where circling her all at once. She was sick and tired of the girl rambling about impossible yet undeniable abilities, names that stung with familiarity and yet meant nothing to her. Who were these people? Why was she a target? What in Jesus's great name was a pancake?

"I've never stayed somewhere more than twenty minutes, so I guess the only reason I'm still here is Chaewon is somehow keeping me here subconsciously." 

"Not guilty." Chaewon snapped, I just wanted to talk to you about how we weren't fricking safe cause she might have found us. Probably the only reason we haven't been attacked is cause you're here!" 

Yerim stared, eyebrow raised. 

"Oh right, I get it." 

Yerim sighed, "I guess this means we all need to converge, but I can't be there when that happens." 

"How many of 'us' are there?" Sooyoung asked, she was happy that she finally had a reason to ask these questions with a right to get answers.

"Excluding you, me and Chaewon? 8. Unless you include..."

"We don't." Chaewon interrupted, folding her arms. 

"Suits me. Now, we need to figure out where the others are, aka we need to find out where one is so she can tell us where the others are. But I don't understand why you all so desperately need to find one another so soon, how old are you both?" 

"19." Chaewon answered.

"23." 

"Right." Yerin said, sucking in some air. "That means it's taking a little longer this time, bit it's weird, my timeline hasn't got any reason to put us all together, I assume mine is hide out timeline, and we are not supposed to find each other. I assume Jiwoo had her reasoning when she did that. Oh I wonder how I died in the last one, it's a pity I can never go back to the previous timelines.." 

"CHOERRY." Yves said, as Yerim realised she had begun to spiral, she winced, she hated that childhood nickname, but she never really gave her full name to her 'before-friends'. 

"Anyway, it means that wherever they are, they can't be to far away, and that you need to find each other, cause SHE might be up to something and it's better you're all self aware when you-" She stopped herself. 

"So, you're sending us to our deaths so our next lives will be better. huh?" Sooyoung hissed.

Yerim flinched, that wasn't really what she meant. "Oh don't worry, I'm from 185 years into the future, so there's every chance you'll live and die at a very old age." She suggested hopefully, but she was lying. And she knew it. 

She sighed. "Look, I can feel myself regaining energy. About time anyway, I am not built for northern- african climate. I am going to go, and come back in maybe a couple of days, lay low but stay where you are. I need to look up more about this timeline from my own, where there is a very handy invention called the internet which enables me to at least get a start on where the others will be." 

She groaned. She was only ever summoned to this timeline or tethered their herself to visit the two of them. She had no idea where the others were, and hadn't spoken to them at all, didn't know who was paired with who. Hell, some of them could already be dead for all she knew. 

She had to do this for every single timeline, look up absolutely everything and anything, and make sure her log was always full, up to date and completely accurate so she never landed in the wrong place, or wrong time (the Ypres incident had been what of the most terrible things she had ever experienced. 

Point was, Vivi always nagged her because she didn't get her jobs done in time, to which she never had a proper excuse, because she couldn't exactly yell at her that she was attempting to save her past lives’ butt.

She sighed as the scene disappeared around her, silently wishing that maybe just maybe she would stop just having to make do with her before- friends, and meet them in real life, where she could introduce herself as her own name for once. Of course, she had Vivi and Sooyoung, but they had each other more than anything , and she was longing to meet the people she knew she was supposed to be such good friends with. She ended up envying her past selves because they had them. Well almost envying, they were in fact, dead, so.

 

Fucked If Jiwoo knows, somewhere in the states probably, 1993. 

Jiwoo wasn't entirely sure where she was.

She was definitely somewhere in America, she could tell by the accent still sounding vaguely familiar and the fact she was mostly sure that she hadn't had to go through any kind of border. 

So they probably weren't in Canada. 

She had, so stupidly on her part, for some reason let Jinsol drive while she slept, and obviously, she hadn't payed attention to any of the handy road signs that told her whatever state she had entered. 

All she knew is that they had left Des Moines at midday yesterday, and stopped at a services in Missouri, and then fell asleep in the back seat and didn't remember anything after that apparently having slept for the next sixteen hours or something, and Jinsol had simply shrugged. 

Like, the whole point about this random trip around America was to not have a destination and just keep up with whatever 'flow' found them... but she had expected to know where she was when she was there... or atleast the state. 

But she literally didn't have a clue. She had woken up in the parking lot of a bowling alley, being woken up by Jinsol ho had informed her that they were in a town that was probably the capital of the state... bt in the suburbs from the minimal intuition she had gone through once she realised she should probably work out where they were. 

So, here Jiwoo was, waltzing in to the bowling alley, already dying from embarrassment of the fact she was going to have to ask a complete stranger which state she was in. 

She walked in nervously, plastering a friendly smile on her face so she atleast did not look like a psychopath to whatever poor soul was going to end up helping her. 

She spied a girl sitting peacefully at the counter, head leaning against one of her hands as she aimlessly flicked through the page of a magazine she didn't seem to look that interested in. She was clearly very bored, and Jiwoo was comforted by the fact she was at least going to entertain her momentarily. Always stay positive, Jiwoo. 

She approached awkwardly, and the girl noticed the movement, and her hand moved from under her forehead to look up at her, her pink hair falling on her face, but her smile was bright at the prospect of something to do, or someone to talk to. 

Thank sweet Jesus, the girl looked friendly. 

"Hi!" The pink haired girl said, beaming brightly. "Can I help you?" 

"Sorry, this might seem like a kind of weird question." Jiwoo bluttered, but the girl didn't seem to mind. "Do you mind me asking...well...what I mean is." She spluttered, messing up almost every word, and an alarming thought came to mind. It didn't look like she was trying to hit on the girl did she?

"W-Which town is this?" 

The girl didn't seem to judge her, but her eyes did go a little weird in confusion "..Atlanta...are you lost?" 

Jiwoo's eyes widened. "Holy crap we're in GEORGIA?" 

"...yes, do you need a map?" The girl asked, confused, gesturing to the display next to her. 

Jiwoo felt like an idiot, she really should have just gone to that display first. She smiled as gracefully as she could, and bent down to pick a map, intending to leave straight away and not bother the poor girl who looked so confused. 

"Hey." The girl said kindly, noticing the panic on Jiwoo's face. "I'm Vivi, do you want a hand with working stuff out?" 

"Please. Honestly pleaaase." JIwoo replied, beaming for real now that she had at least not scared the girl off and she might get some human assistance while Jinsol sat outside in their car screaming at her car and miracally expecting it to reply or gie her directions. . "I'm Jiwoo." she replied. 

Vivi returned the smile. "I'll just get my gir-" she paused, looking back at Jiwoo a little frightened. "I mean, coworker." she coughed. Looking down at her magazine again, a horrible look of shame on her face. 

Jiwoo's fists gripped, not because she was was a prejudiced bigot, but because she could already tell how much anguish and torment the girl had gone though that she was nervous to admit her life choices. 

"If you were going to say what I think you were going to say, believe me I won't judge, neither will Jinsol." She whispered. 

Vivi sighed out in relief, her eyes seemed to shine with happiness, and she couldn't help but smile back at her. A weird tingling feeling seemed to take over her body, and it delighted her to feel the sensation. She had every funny feeling that she might have infact, made a new friend. 

"SOOYOUNG, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE." Vivi suddenly called out, and some kind of thumb was heard from the upstairs, which Vivi seemed to take as good sign, so Jiwoo was happy enough. 

A few moments later the door behind the counter opened, and another girl walked in and sat next to Vivi, looking expectantly up at Jiwoo. "What am I helping with?" 

Jiwoo's breath tightened. 

She felt herself being overcome with this incredulous, suffocating sense of familiarity. 

She... knew her. 

No, she must just recognise her or something. Saw her once on the street when they were both on family holidays to Manhattan or something. She was on the news maybe. Maybe she was a relative of someone ridiculously famous and came to hide out in a bowling alley in ATlanta to escape the cameras. 

She ran though a thousand different scenarios in her head, and all of them in vain. Probably, because she didn't recognise her at all. She had never once seen those features, that hair, everything to combine into that particular girl in her life. 

She didn't recognise her, she was back to her original theory. She knew her. She more than knew her, she-

had only just met the girl, literally expressed a sentence towards one another, but suddenly this terrifying feeling of deja vu was clawing at her organs and eating her alive. 

It was like someone had tripped her up, and she was now lying in the shallow waters of the ocean, and with every wave sloshing over her a new weird, somehow alive emotion would engulf her in her entirety.

Silence had never screamed so loudly in her ears. 

"Oh by the way Vivi, have you seen Yerim at all?" Sooyoung asked, turning her head away from the awkward prolonged eye contact. 

The moment had mostly passed, but there was a lingering feeling of...well she didn't know breathing fire into her soul. 

"No, not since she went to get milk a couple of hours ago. She probably saw a friend and got sidetracked." Vivi reolied aimlessly, grinning as she looked back at Jiwoo. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, the three of them were sitting around kitchen table of the flat, gulfing down some lemonade, and pouring themselves over the map they had located from downstairs. 

"There's a motel about a five minute walk from down here." Vivi pointed out. "I mean, if you're planning on staying in Georgia for a little bit." 

Jiwoo shrugged. "I don't see why not. The whole point was to spontaneously explore, I had just imagined that if a slept, Jinsol would at least pay attention to where we were." She laughed, narrowing her eyes slightly. 

"Yeah." Sooyoung said, confused. "Where is you friend? Does she not want to come up?" 

"I think she might be out cold, she was driving for pretty much sixteen hours straight and pulled in to the carpark to rest, I was the one who was pretty adamant on learning our location ." 

All three faces looked up from the map as a door opened as Yerim walked through, who shut it behind her calmly, as naturally as she did every day. 

"Heya!" She said cheerfully, setting the blue plastic bag down on the bench, picking the milk out of it before heading to the fridge. She glanced at the three of them, and just smiled again. "Oh, Hi Jiwoo." She greeted the girl sitting opposite her with as much normality as she had the other two. 

Yerim froze. 

"I...uhh." She gobbled, realising her stupidity in a second. 

"What year is it?" She asked frantically, looking over at her friends. 

Vivi rolled her eyes. "1993, like it was been for the past four months, and an answer that you somehow need clarification of far to often. Glad you got my text about Jiwoo." 

Relief sank into Yerim, but a grin was still broad on her face with the most cheerful and innocent manner that was possible. "Yes... obviously.. your text." She turned to Jiwoo offering her hand. 

"I'm Yerim." She beamed, shaking the girls hand with a very strong amount of vigour. 

"Do you have anybody else with you...?" She asked a little wistfully, the hope pretty much dancing around her face with glee. 

"Yeah actually." Jiwoo replied, a little taken aback, she had to admit. "My friend Jinso-

Yerim's face somehow lit up even more than it previously had been, and she bounded out of the doorway again after exclaiming. "WHY SHE MUST HAVE SOME LEMONADE TO0." 

"I don't think." Sooyoung began, putting her glass of lemonade down on the table forcefully. "I have literally, ever seen her that happy. In my life." 

"Me neither." Vivi replied, a bemused expression on her face. The two of them looked confused, but Jiwoo could not translate their expressions to be at all surprised. 

"She babbles a lot and doesn't make much sense, and is forever asking us what year it is. At this point we know she's not doing crack, so we've learnt not to question it." Vivi told her, smiling, noticing the look of blatant confusion on Jiwoo's face. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Some hour later, the five of them were sitting around the table once more, but this time with three very large pizzas: Jinsol had been driving for like, forever, Jiwoo hadn't eaten in sixteen hours, Vivi had low key been craving pizza all day, and Yerim and Sooyoung were not exactly going t complain about consuming pizza that someone else was paying for anyway. 

"How did you manage to not notice where you were, like at all?" Vivi asked Jinsoul, who shrugged, mouth still full of cheese. 

"I don't know, I'm not sure if I veen remember driving." She replied, muffled. 

"You weren't...on anything were you?" Sooyoung asked. 

Jinsol snorted. "Nah, I'm probably just too tired to remember anyway. It was kinda like someone took my memory... or at least some details from it, lie I remember driving somewhere, but I don't remember what was going through my head, like at all. I'm probably just reaaaallly tired and I should have pulled up sooner. Lucky I didn't cause an accident or something." 

Yerims arms shifted uncomfortably under the table. "Yeah, that sounds right." She muttered, a little hint of fear in her voice, as a bittersweet theory formulated in her mind. 

Jiwoo coughed a little, having a bit of pepper lodged in her throat. 

"Hey." Sooyoung said softly, hitting her back in attempt to assist. "You okay" She asked genuinely. 

"Yeah." Jiwoo said finally, after the coughing finally stopped, and she looked at Sooyoung gratefully, whose arm was still resting on her back. 

And then there was silence again. A very uncomfortable one at that. It was short lived, Sooyoung dropped her arm and Jiwoo turned away very abruptly

Yerim glanced at Sooyoung. Then at Vivi. Then at Sooyoung again. And then at Jiwoo, before turning back to Sooyoung again. 

Oh fuck, she thought. This had the potential to become very awkward very fast.


	3. 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!! This ones kind of short but I am more proud of it than the last one???
> 
> I would love a review :)

Liverpool, 1834. 

Vivi had never had to use so much of her courage to take a step before in her life. 

Come on, she told herself as she raised her foot from the edge of the boat, dangling it in the air as she gripped strongly the pole beside her. It’s just one step, like every other step you’ve taken your entire life, nothing different. It’s just a rise and fall of a foot. 

But she was kidding herself. This was not an ordinary step, this was completely life changing.   
It would be her first every step to take and arrive on soil that was no Irish. It would be her first step where she wasn’t familiar with the ground beneath it. 

It was her first step of her freedom.   
From here onwards, every step she took would belong to her, it wouldn’t be ruled over and restricted, she was completely and utterly free, and wasn’t that all she had wanted? 

Why did it weigh her down with such force she thought she might sink?

And then there was someone moving to the edge alongside her, and fingers lacing through her own, and not long after the same thing occurring to her right as well. 

And suddenly, it didn’t seem so scary anymore. Because she wasn’t alone. 

She could never be okay alone. 

“Count of 3?” Hyunjin asked her, giving her hand another small squeeze of reassurance. 

“3” Jungeun said, grinning as wide as she could. “2...1”

Then and there, they stepped hastily off the rocking boat onto the flat, steady English ground they began to walk upon. 

The world seem to spin a little slower in that moment, even as they stepped it seemed almost frozen. Every sound was a thousand times more delightful to her ears, even the loud billowing of the horns of those stupidly big ships didn’t even scare her, in fact they made her smile. The warm breeze of May swarmed lovingly around her neck, and the sight of the children playing on the pier filled her with the most splendid emotions that were known to man. 

Their hands did not break apart, but their speed began to increase, rapidly. Every step quickened in paste, before they began to break into a full on sprint, inhaling the smell of their blissful freedom

She felt herself being span from side to side, twirling in amongst the other two with incredible energy and before she knew it they had fallen to the ground, rolling amongst the grass not caring if their dresses were stained, or if the people around them cared, but she had always thought the English were too stuck up for their own good anyway. 

“We’re free.” Jungeun said, the first to speak since their arrival, as if she couldn't really believe the words herself. She broke into another wide grin. “We’re actually free, we can do whatever the hell we want.” 

“Sure we can, but I am under the impression that we do at least have one commitment.” Hyunjin scorned her, although it was clearly in jest. “I do believe that we have a train to catch.” 

 

As it turned out, none of the three of them seemed to be able to contain their excitement, and seemed to not be able to sleep at all, but that had been partly done to the fact that the train rocked and swayed so much they were almost frightened it may fly straight off the tracks. 

“Trains are not quite as smooth as the papers say.” Hyunjin remarked, at the the point of their second hour after embarking on the train travel across England. 

“Better than a boat.” Vivi replied, turning the page of her book, not that there was much point, reading it with such turbulence was making her feel as if she might be ill, and she had at least some dignity even as well, a sort of fugitive. 

“Are we fugitives now?” She asked, putting her book down. 

“Please. We’re three weak little women, two weeks not found and we’ll be presumed murdered.” Jungeun replied, laughing. “BUt I do like that.” She said with a mischievous pause. “I guess we shall call each other fugitives.” 

“And then they’ll come and arrest us and cart us off with thieves to the Swan Lake colony of Terra Australis.” Hyunjin teased, earning a slap in the arm from Vivi’s book before they arrived and yet another station. 

Vivi was glad, that made it possible for her to read in peace instead of gagging every time she attempted to read a word, and the other two had finally quieted down about their romantic fantasies of a nomadic lifestyle. 

MATILDA, who had by Hippolyta's order, had retired to her apartment-

“Hey Vivi.” Hyunjin said, nudging her out of focus once more. 

Vivi pretty much threw her book down at that point. “WHAT.”   
“We’ve stopped, ad I don’t think we’re at a station.” 

“WE’RE NOT.” A cheerful voice with a thick accent, seemingly..Welsh?, boomed through theri carriage. 

The three looked up to see a girl beaming through the window that looked out into the corridor at them. 

“THERE’S A COW GIVING BIRTH ON THE TRACKS, DO YOU WANT TO COME SEE?”

Then the face disappeared and the girls heard a very welsh accented muffle of a conversation going on behind the door. 

“Jiwoo you can’t just go and ask strangers that. Nobody wants to see a cow give birth!” 

“But Has-” 

Vivi didn’t manage to catch the rest of the conversation, nor was she sure it continued because Hungeun had already vacated her seat and swung open the door. 

“I BLOODY WELL DO.” 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yerim swung open the crealy door of the cottage, with absolutely no care of fuck about the state of her attire or the fact that she was being most unladylike. She was a farmgirl, for christs sake, being sophisticated was not really expected to be in her field of expertise, and for that she was grateful. 

“You’re covered in mud.” Chaewon retorted the second she stepped onto their cobbled floor they called their home, 

“I got chased by a sheep again.” Yerim addicted reluctantly. 

“Were you in Malcolms fields again?” You better not have been seen.” Chaewon glared, pulling out a chair from their kitchen table to sit down, still glaring. 

“It wasn’t intentional I just got lost! Every field looks the same you can’t exactly blame me.” Yerim replied, sticking her tongue out in protest as she hung her red, mainly unscathed cloak upon the nearby bannister, smoothing down it’s edges fondly. She really did like that cloak. 

“Just don’t get the mud anywhere, you know inspections in a week.” 

“Yes I know” That's why I was careful to hang up my cloak, I normally just throw it over the table.” 

Inspection was a pain indeed, but it wasn’t as hard as the boss tried to make it out to be, he always did the boys first, and then waited a few days to immediately to the girls, seeming to be unaware that his employees may actually talk to one another, and Noah had come round the previous evening to warn them. 

“Yeah Noah’s eating with us tonight to say thanks, Yeojins busy cooking that.” Chaewon gestured from reading her paper, pointing over at the stove where Yeojin seemed to be slaving away at her famous cottage pie.

Yerim shuddered as she looked, knowing not to talk to Yeojin while she cooked if she wanted to have all her limbs at the end of the conversation. 

She left the kitchen and truddled up the stairs, arms sliding across the banister ashe she slumped with every step, almost collapsing when she got to her bedroom. 

She shrugged off her usually green overskirt that was now sporting a more revolting brown shade and smelled off sheep, and if they were having a guest she wasn’t going to remain in this. 

Her petticoats had survived and their dull cream colour reimagined, and she reached into her closet, pulling out her other skirt, a dark blue and praying silently that the mud would come out of the other one, not that she cared that much, b the boss probably would. 

She sat for a second on her bed, sinking into the sheets and wondering what was keeping her from just lying there and submitting to sleep, te blissful activity she teased so much. 

But then the rumble in her tummy gave her a deep reminder, and she sat upright again, suddenly fueled by hunger, and from the fact that the doorbell had just rang. 

Her head turned to her mirror, and she frantically brushed the stray hairs that had escaped her wrath earlier that morning into her hair’s preferred formation once more, and darted down the stairs to greet their guest. 

“Come in” Chaewon said brightly as she opened the door, glad to see their friend, it was a bust season and they didn't see much of the other workers at this point in the year, and when they did they were working, which is not the best time for one to socialize in. 

“I would, but dinner’s going to have to wait. I actually came to fetch you.” Noah admitted sheepishly, stepping into the room just slightly, the look on his face screaming apology. 

“You’re shittiing me, I just spent ages on food, what does the old twat want?” Yeojin said angrily, throwing her te towel across the room angrily. 

“One of the old bessies has wondered out of that hole in the fence that we were going to fix tomorrow and had decided to settle on the tracks of the railway.” He told them gravely. 

“So?” Yerim asked. 

“Yeah, why hadn’t it moved, surely she would have moved by now then?” Chaewon continued. “And why would that need our help?” 

“Uhh, that would be the thing.” Noah replied, gritting his teeth. “The old girl had decided to give birth on the tracks, so she’s not moving, and she’s having a rather difficult time about it.” 

“Oh.” Yeojin said dryly, rolling her eyes. “Brilliant. Cow Vagina.” 

“Sorry girls.” He said sighing, as they groaned and followed him out the door. 

 

It was about as pleasant as you’d expect it to be. A stopped train a few hundred metres away, and a poor cow having to do life’s most private thing in front of such an audience. 

Chaewon felt absolutely no compassion for the cow. Well she did a bit, she was in pain and that was never a good thing to endure, she wasn’t sadistic. But, here she was, arms deep in as Yeojin had so eloquently put it “cow vagina” as the other two assisted her, but wee not in such undignified circumstances. Why on earth had she drawn the short straw. 

The worst part of it of course, was that she had a lovely audience for this little stunt. She wasn’t talking about Noah, he had left them in peace and promised to come round later to visit Yerim- uh, the three of them.

No she was referring to the train full of people who were so very kindly speculating her hard work. Some were leaning out of the windows, not really wanting to look for the sake of keeping up one’s ladylike fragility, but letting the curiousness in the souls fester just a little bit. Some of the men, and a few women who didn’t seem to have any shama had climbed out of the train altogether and were treating it a little like a sport. 

When the calve finally surfaced itself, there was a mighty uproar of applause from the passengers. Chaewon was not sure if she was to feel grateful of nor.Yes, they were applauding her efforts, but this was certainly not the kind of act that one would desire any kind of mass applause after completing. 

She removed her gloves with disgust, and awkwardly curtsied to the people who had engrossed themselves so vibrantly in her endeavour, not sure if that was the right approach. It couldn’t hurt, however mortifyingly embarrassing it was. 

 

Back on the train. 

“That was a sight to see indeed,” Hyunjin remarked, gagging a little as she thought about the series of events that had unfolded in front of her just a few minutes prior. It was quite, disgusting although enthralling. 

“I think it was fantastic.” Their new found Welsh friend said happily beside them. “The farm girls were so effetiant, I wonder how hard it must be.” She said cheerfully. Then again, she seemed to say everything cheerfully. 

“I can’t imagine that being my job though, can you imagine touching-” Her travelling companion, Haseul was it? Said, but she didn't finish as she became overcome with hudders of repulse. 

“Neither. But I imagine it must be quite wonderful to bring new life into the world.” Vivi said, not looking up from her book. “Even if that life is a cow.” 

“What brings the to of you to York? You don’t sound very English.” Hyunjin asked the two strangers desperate to change the topic of conversation and get the image of a cow’s bodily fluids out of her mind as quickly as possible. 

“Oh! We’re governessing families in a village near its outskirts. The two families are close and do a lot together, so the job seemed very fitting. In a few months we’ll be heading up to the holiday home in Scotland, it all seems wonderful reallly-

“Stop babbling Jiwoo you’ll bore them.” Haseul interrupted her smiling. “No, we’re not English, we’re both from Aberystwyth. You don’t sound very English yourselves, mind.” 

“We’re Irish.” Hyunjin replied. “And we’re…” she looked around at the other two, panicked as to what to say. “...travelling.” She settled for that, and the other two seemed to be happy. It was the only thing that they could say without lying.


	4. 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been a while! And this chapter is relatively short :/

Edmonton,Alberta, Canada. 1993

"What's the last thing you remember?" 

Chaewon considered the question, and apart from a few patchy images of bright lights and the hazy whispers of somebody hushing into her ear (huh, must have been a wild night) she found herself quite amnesic.

"I think it was after my third beer, and some girl announced that they were going to table dance." 

Haseul folded her arms and glared at her. 

"I may have been the girl."

Haseul sighed, putting the air conditioning in her car up a little. "Well from the fact that I received a very gargled voice message from you last night, saying something about a hotel, and that you weren't in your bed this morning, I thought I'd come find you. I didn't expect to find you fully checked into said hotel, and neglecting the plush clean bed, passed out cold in the fucking bathtub." 

Chaewon shrugged. 

"Where did you even get the money to pay for that place? You- didn't-" 

"Nah." Chaewon cut her off. "At least I don't think so. Apparently the stay had all been paid for last night. And I know I didn't, because why on earth would I have woken up in a bathtub?." 

"Fair point, I mean you did have a pillow, which you were clinging onto really tightly. How's that hang over then?"

"Not to bad, my neck hurts a lttle bit more than my head."

"That's what sleeping in a bathtub will do, Chaewon." 

"I don't have class today, do I?" Chaewon asked, laying her head against the back of the seat, closing her eyes and groaning loudly. 

Haseul smiled, rolling her eyes slightly as she turned the corner. "No, you've only got a lecture at 4, but otherwise you're good." 

"Love you." Chaewon grinned, eyes still closed, swatting her hand affectionately at Haseuls face, who was not thoroughly amused, given that she was driving. 

"You have ruined your dress." 

"It'll wash out." 

"Do you even know what it is??"

"..,no but for the sake of my pride and the fact that my aunt got me this dress and will kill me if she finds out I ruined it IT HAS TO WASH OUT." 

"And if it doesn't. What excuse could you come out with that you managed to make the entirety of the neckline of your pale purple dress a weirdly dark green. And is that pink?" Haseul exclaimed, picking at the hem around her sleeves. 

"Guess I was drinking cocktails, jeez."

"You're not usually like this, I mean I've seen you wasted, but never well, this." 

"I'm as confused as you are. Just let feel the warmth of my nice crisp sheets that probably feel better than a stone bathtub." 

"When I'm old you better give up your job to take care of me." She huffed in reply. 

"You're like four years older than me. Plus, you old is not a site I can imagine." 

"At the moment your head is probably trying to convert everything into swedish or something and you are drooling on my car."

"I thought that was juice." 

"Get into bed." 

Chaewon saluted in reply, swinging the door open and then attempting to climb the stairs up into their apartment, and almost kicking a cat as she did so. She then apologised to the very traumatised cat, waited impatiently for Haseul to unlock the door, and then practically flew onto her bed after ripping off her now very colorful dress and throwing n and old t shirt. 

It had been a weird night, and she sure as hell wasn't looking forward to that lecture, but for now she could just sleep, no matter how weird the dream. 

Atlanta, Georgia, 1993.

The air was warm at night. 

A rather nice night, Vivi thought to herself. 

Her window was outstretched to its maximum, the air blowing in her face with a pleasant speed and temperature, snaking itself around the room, like some enveloping hug, one that Vivi needed at that point in time. 

For it was warm, and it was calm, and it was content. 

And it felt like that was all that was left sometimes. Th twas the only lasting contrail of the flight that had been her happiness with the girl sleeping so soundly next to her. 

For maybe just for a little while, with her knees hunched next to her chest, and her head resting lightly on the headboard, she could just live like this. Warm, and calm, and content. 

Perhaps she could prolong how it was in this moment, matching her breathing with the rise and fall of Sooyoung's chest. Maybe if it was okay now, maybe it could be okay again. 

Why did her girlfriend have to be asleep for this? Why couldn't her last clings of hope be when Sooyoung was smiling at her earnestly over the breakfast table over something funny Vivi had said? She was smiling now, her lips turned upwards into a happy smile as she grabbed the covers in her sleep and rolled over, the breath of her sleeping giggles skimming against the skin of Vivi's leg. What was she smiling about? Why couldn't it be her?

Maybe, just maybe she was smiling about her. 

Yes.. maybe she was. 

Maybe she was dreaming of some treasured memory that was replaying in her head, and secretly she was unlocking the feeling she had had in those moments, and from the moment she woke up, she would be back in that dreary honeymoon happiness and she would kiss her in that way where her hair would tickle her neck. And it would be warm, and calm and content again. 

What could she be dreaming about? 

Maybe about that time Vivi was so panicked going out as a couple in public for the first time. Shr had been so scared that when others could see then Sooyoung would so easily play off that they were just too very heterosexual friends walking down the highstreet. She was such a good actress, she'd seen her on stage at uni, that her acting was so convincing that shouldn't have known it to be a facade. But the second they had stepped out of the house, her fingers had tightened around Vivi's own, and she kisses her hand cheerfully in front of the rush hour promenade, and Vivi's fears had melted away. 

Or Vivi's 22nd birthday, when they had only been running it for about 3 months, and way before their relationship started, and Sooyoung had closed the whole alley, and had set up lights all over the roller rink, grabbed her hand and danced with her. The exact moment that Vivi could pinpoint that she decided she loved this girl and didn't think she would ever stop. 

Or last december, the best christmas that Vivi had ever had. It wasn't necessarily a massive milestone in their relationship, but it was hard to find a moment in Vivi's life where she had ever been so happy. I thad just been the 3 of them, pulling crackers and playing games so stupid that her sides ached from all the laughter. So warm, so calm and so content. 

Yes, it was probably a dream featuring one of those memories, Vivi decided, choosing to ignore the fact that those were all strong memories from Vivi's perspective, and she had no idea of Sooyoung's own take on them. 

"Morning." Sooyoung said gruffly, rubbing the residue out of her eyes. 

"Hey." Vivi said. "What did you dream about?" 

Sooyoung's eyes darted a little to the door, widening slightly. 

"Nothing." 

Same day, same time. 

One of the biggest rules that Yerim had forced herself to follow was pretty crucial. 

Don't look, and Don't know. 

That of course was referring to her own past timelines bit it also had another meaning, and was arguably far more important. For the sake of balance, and for the sake of her own sanity. 

If she didn't look, she didn't have to know. 

She could check little things, she could know what was going on in the world, what they were wearing possible places they could be, things to help. 

But she was only supposed to know the facts about the time. The place. She couldn't know anything more than her textbooks or any other person studying would, or anything they told her. 

If she looked, she would know. 

And she didn't. She never looked, no matter how tempting it was occasionally. She envied the other hers. They couldn't really look, even if they wanted to, but now it was so easy, all it would take was a couple words typed on a screen and then she would know. But she would never look, that was a vow she had promised herself, and she intended to honor it for as long as her life went on, which could scarily be a pretty short time period. 

And that was true, she would never look. 

But that day, staring at her textbook, studying for a test that she had completely forgotten she had that week and knew was vital for her grade, she didn't expect that it would be staring straght back up at her. 

There was the odd occasion painting probably somewhere, maybe health records, but history wasn't supposed to know. And it surely wasn't supposed to tell her. 

Don't look, Don't know.

Please don't know how they died. 

Berlin, Nazi Germany, 25th August 1940. 

Yeojin breathed in her air deeply, knowing full well that this might be the only air that would enter her lungs again, it could be on this breath that her organs gave out, or maybe in another few minutes, who knew. 

Sometimes it was written or people would say that you knew you were dying when it didn't actually hurt.

She called bullshit. It was because the pangs of fury and vengeful agony in the gash to her left side were tormenting her in such a harsh tempest of pain that she knew no stroke of luck was going to save her, and her light was going to be snuffed out here in the cold, alone and bleeding. 

She sighed again, for it was the only thing her body was humanly capable of doing. She couldn;t move, she was itching to scream in agony, but she found herself incapable and aware that it was unlikely to not make the situation so much worse. She wasn't crying, she didn't have the energy, but salty drops rolled down her cheeks rapidly having been squeezed out of her sockets because the pressure was so vast.

She was no martyr, just one of countless others caught in an unexpected raid, unprotected from the flying shrapnel. She wasn't even sure where she was, her vision was dipping in and out, and her hearing had escaped her. For that, she thought, he was grateful. She would at least have the peace of ignorance to the harrowing screams. 

I don't even get last words, she thought to herself in annoyance. Well, obviously she would, because she would have spoken some words to somebody that day, unaware that they would be her last, but she couldn't remember for the life of her what those words were and to whom they were spoken. 

Did it matter what they were, there was a huge chance that they might have been a lie, and she had a horrible feeling that it might have been the biggest, shortest most common lie anybody in that city said on a daily basis. 

If they were indeed her last two words, how many of the countless other dying souls around her, or the empty bodies of those instantly having their life stripped from them, would have also said those words. How many others would have wasted the last seven years of their life lying? Up until their dying breath? 

Berlin had well and truly fallen, but long before the allied planes had appeared in the sky. 

And here she lay, fourteen years old, surrounded not by love, and not by comfort, but with blood redder than any flag could ever be. 


	5. 5..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been a while! And this chapter is relatively short :/

Somewhere in Ontario, 1993.

Olivia leant against the wall, her fingers warming as they clasped the newly made coffee. She wasn’t exactly cold, but the warmth was comforting, and comfort was something that for Olivia, was often pretty scarce.   
It was hard seeing any of them. Seeing their innocent faces stare blankly at her, unaware that they have any prior interactions with her, like she was some stranger off the street. Or worse when they gulped in fear, as that was their only lasting memory of her. The either forgot her entirely or remembered nothing but her darkest points.. Both were painful, but it was even worse when it was her.   
And she’d had to last night, she had to ask where le chouette was, on the off chance she knew, and she didn’t. That’s all she had to, walk up to her in bar and ask innocently like some ignorant lost girl if she knew where her friend was. And she’d gotten an earnest smile and a shake of the head, and that was enough to fill her mind to the brink, and it pained her to have to erase the encounter. She had to, she’d seen her face, and that couldn't happen properly. Not just yet. Not if she wanted it to go as planned, and so far it was. She lucked out with le chat anyway. So it wasn’t going to be long. She could wait another few weeks. God knows she’d waited longer.   
And it was going well, and they had to move quickly. She needed to find the others, and it was going to be a hell of a lot easier now, if tonight proved successful. It had been a while, a long while. And last time- well last time hadn’t been ideal. But it wasn’t going to be like last time, as long as she kept certain people at bay, and they didn’t go reminding people. But it was okay they would understand. She was saving them.   
And right about now she wanted to leave, and get the job done, but someone seemed to be taking forever in the bathroom.  
“Come on,” Olivia called, impatiently waiting at the door. After a couple of seconds Hyunjin appeared next to her, and Olivia looked her up and down, a slight frown on her face. “Aren’t you going to like, change?” she asked, gesturing to the state of Hyunjins denim shorts and plain red top, well it would be plain if it wasn’t for all the stains.   
“Why would I?” Hyunjin asked, her face blank.  
“You wore that last night.”  
“So? Do I smell?” Hyunjin asked, lifting up her upper arm and shoving her armpit into Olivia’s face, as her decaffeinated exhausted self had pretty much been stripped of any remaining pride at this point.   
“No.” Olivia said, swatting her arm out of the way in disgust. “Its more that you’re..well covered in blood.”   
Hyunjin rolled her eyes, it wasn’t like anyone was going to know it was blood. “Oh yes because everybody knows that when one's skin is cut, the blood that comes oozing out is definitely a weird shade of green.”   
Olivia chuckled. “I haven’t had enough sleep for your sarcasm. The point stands that you look out of place.”  
“Who cares? Maybe I’m sporting a limited edition tie dye line.”  
“Disgusting.”   
“Is the point really to look good, it’s not the most glamorous activity.”   
“Oh jinnie.” Olivia smiled, cupping the right side of Hyunjins cheek, as though she were some delicate wrongly caged animal. “It is never a bad time to be glamorous.”, she said with a cheeky wink. “I do it all the time.”   
“Shove off.” Hyunjin giggled half heartedly, pushing away her hand.  
“Now go and get dressed, I can’t have you noticed. You’re far to useful.”  
“Oh Jesus, thanks a bunch.”   
Olivia looked her into her eyes and flashed her a grin. “You know it’s more than that.”   
And Hyunjin did. For Olivia’s eyes shone as brightly as a blazing sunrise, so earnestly that she knew it was no deeper than the absolute truth.   
Hyunjin rolled her eyes a little, completely out of jest and went upstairs, pulling off her top and swapping it for a black one on her chair, black would be better to blend it anyways, and that’s what she’d always been good at. Well, before Olivia. She returned at the bottom of the stairs, waving out her hands in a way of saying, happy now?   
“Come, Lapin, let’s go hunting.” 

 

Montreal, Quebec, 1993.

Jungeun hated the night shift. It was busier, and the injuries were bloodier than the 6th of July 1832. The lights of the hospitals ceilings somehow seemed brighter, and the need to hurry was always adamant. People were stupider at night, people were more dangerous. Stomachs pumped, stab wounds stitched, you name it. She even had to remove a but plug from some sixteen year old who had managed to get it stuck, and Jungeun was sincerely hoping that she was mistaken in thinking she had moaned upon it being removed. Heejin hadn’t been working that night, something about a harrowing hangover, so she was doubly frustrated. And most of all, it just made her tired. Sure, she didn’t have to work during the day but she was going to end up just sleeping and maybe going out to get milk, not the most exciting day. She yearned for her holidays, which were only a couple of weeks away. But until then she had this stupid night shift three times a week.   
She threw her car keys into the fruit bowl next to an orange that had probably been there a month, and slumped herself down onto the beckoning sofa.  
She swears she only sat down for a few seconds, but Morpheus possessed her and her eyelids began to close. Sleep just sounded so very good. She didn’t even need to get up and walk that hike to her bedroom, no, she could just sleep right here. The cushions were satisfactory pillows, and it was warm enough to not need a blanket thicker than the throw, maybe it wouldn’t be bad just to drift off right here...if it wasn’t for the fact an alarmingly sharp, cold piece of metal was poking into her back.   
“Mais bon sang, qu’est-ce qui se passe?” She growled angrily, she decided that French probably made her sound a bit less pathetic.   
“That’s quite rude, chouette.” A voice scolded from behind her, probably the person holding the knife. “We don’t want to hurt you.”   
Jungeun kind of felt like laughing, which she found odd seeing as she was shaking with terror. She fixed stab wounds not received them. “Convaincante..” she murmured.   
“Oh god, more french.” Another voice came from behind her. Cowards.   
“You spoke it once too, you know, lapin.”   
“I’m Italian! La lingua francese può succhiare il mio cazzo.” The other voice said, in a tone bitter enough that Jungeun gathered meant the words were unsavoury.   
Suddenly the blade wasn’t pressing against her back, and she jolted to move, but her hand was pulled back, and she felt herself being thrust onto the back of the sofa, two strong hands pushing her in place. “She’s very quick with that knife, I wouldn't think about moving.” The Italian one said, now in her full view. She was young, younger than her by at least a couple of years, which took her aback a bit. She was petite, and a depressing kind of beautiful.   
“Yes she is.”   
Jungeun’s eyes darted to the source of the voice, and her eyes laid upon her chief attacker. Now she was young. Eighteen, nineteen at an absolute maximum. She had such an endearing countenance, but the second she looked at her an invisible tsunami of fear erupted within her.   
“Why are you in my house?”   
The girl paused for a second, looking up from her knife. “I guess we want some information?”  
“Then why haven’t you asked me?” She asked, swallowing down a scream for about the seventh time.   
“Well. Do you know who I am?”   
Yes. No. “No.”   
“Then I doubt you’ll really be able to answer me. Not easily anyway.” This bitch really needed to stop talking to cryptically, her completely terror wasn’t being helped by the fact that she hadn’t a clue what was going on.  
“So?”   
“So you’re going to have to...let me in.”   
“You appear to have let yourself in fine.”   
The girl actually laughed a little. “I’ve missed you.”   
“...Right.”   
“Which is why it pains me to have to do this.” She said gravely, nodding at the Italian girl.   
“Wha-” Is all she managed to say before the grip on her shoulders became a lot tighter, like she was trying to squeeze something out of her back.   
She let out the imbedded scream, fuck that girl was strong. And another scream, as the pain became more agonising. And another, and another, until the room sounded like an orchestra of suffering.   
Amongst her cries, the knife girl shouted. “You see, it kind of works like drowning. You’ll try and stop it first, but eventually the body realises it's better to just give in. The less you know the better, then it’s more like a reflex then anything. There’s no pride or righteousness. Only the choice of pain or well, not pain. Take your time.”   
The words sounded as foreign as the other girl’s Italian had, and she hadn’t much care for them now, there was just such a terrible scratching, clawing at her back, like she was trying to remove a layer of her skin, but she didn't feel any blood, and no real bruising.   
She felt the scratching, but she didn’t feel the scratching as she felt the pain. The pain felt like it was within her, like it was internal. Not like her internal organs, this pain felt like it was searing through her very essence, her very soul. And it was burning and striking, defending itself and causing an almighty tempest of harrowing pain in the meantime.   
This was torture she guessed, in every sense of the word, in the suffering rippling through her being, and the actual action being forced upon her by these sadistic witches.   
“Stop.” She begged, boiling tears escaping through her eyes as she looked up. Knife girl smiled sadly, pressing her lips to Jungeun’s forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”   
And just at that moment, the pain ceased, and her back began to feel like it was lifting, bt she knew he was firm on the ground. The Italian girl cut away the fabric, still keeping her pinned to the floor, but it felt like a memory foam mattress in comparison to a few seconds ago, and she gladly sank to the floor, unaware of the beaming light shining vibrantly.   
Italian girl pushed the remains of her tops back away, tracing her fingers over her right shoulder blade. “Somewhere in the south of the states, looks like Georgia to me. That’s easy enough.”  
“All of them?” Knife girl asked.  
“All the missing five. Pink and Red lights are shining here, but we knew that. Green, Weird Green and Orange over where we were yesterday. So yeah Weird Orange, Blue, Dark Red, Light pink and Purple are all there.”   
Jungeun groaned, sitting herself up as she began to come back to consciousness.   
“Thank you, Chouette.” Knife girl said, placing another kiss this time to the rim of her lips. “You’ve done so well,I’ll come back for you.”  
Jungeun was too dazed to reply, but she wished she could- but she weirdly found herself unmotivated to cause any harm towards her, and some part of her was...happy that she had pleased her? What kind of submissive fucked up thing was that?  
“Unfortunately.” She continued, stroking Jungeun’s hair. “Until then, we can’t have you running around with this memory of yours.” She nodded again at the Italian girl, and the last thing she saw was a flash of fangs and an oddly sharp pain in her neck, as her memories of the night escaped her body and a red butterfly glowed Italian girl’s wrist.


End file.
